Linux is 'terrible' says OpenBSD man

"Theo de Raadt is a pioneer of the open source software movement and a huge proponent of free software. But he is no fan of the open source Linux operating system," says Forbes.

"It's terrible," De Raadt says. "Everyone is using it, and they don't realize how bad it is. And the Linux people will just stick with it and add to it rather than stepping back and saying, 'This is garbage and we should fix it.'"

De Raadt makes a rival open source operating system called OpenBSD. Unlike Linux, which is a clone of Unix, OpenBSD is based on an actual Unix variant called Berkeley Software Distribution. BSD powers two of the best operating systems in the world -- Solaris from Sun Microsystems and OS X from Apple Computer.

In the UK, we say MRDA, or "Mandy Rice-Davis Applies," after a once well known scandal. (In somewhat different circumstances, Mandy responded in court to the effect that "He would say that, wouldn't he.") Either way, De Raadt complains about Linux being backed by the two biggest computer corporations -- IBM (almost $100bn in annual sales) and Hewledtt-Packard (not far behind, now it has swallowed Compaq, DEC, Tandem and Apollo) -- "who have turned Linux hackers into an unpaid workforce".

"These companies used to have to pay to develop Unix. They had in-house engineers who wrote new features when customers wanted them. Now they just allow the user community to do their own little hacks and features, trying to get to the same functionality level, and they're just putting pennies into it," De Raadt says.

Comment: It is a normal part of the technology adoption Hype Cycle, as propounded by Gartner, that something is overhyped then suffers a backlash. (In Gartner terms, goes from the Peak of Inflated Expectations to the Trough of Disillusionment.) Forbes is merely playing its part.